When I first saw this book, I was waiting on line for a latte at
Barnes & Noble.
The book was strategically placed on a table beside the line – a clever
marketing technique to say the least. The idea is to push a book that one
might not ordinarily pick up by making it readily available to someone waiting
on line. Why else do you think they place the National Enquirer right next to the
cashier at the local grocery store.
Don’t try to pretend that you don’t at least scan the titles while you are on
line.

But I digress. I picked up the book, because the title was so ridiculous.
Under the title, The Book of Bunny Suicides, was a sort of subtitle
explaining the book’s contents: “Little Fluffy Rabbits Who Just Don’t Want to
Live Any More.” The cover depicts a rabbit's ears sticking out of a
toaster, leading one to believe that the
rabbit has “toasted” himself.
Surely this book was not really about suicidal rabbits!

And yet, that is exactly what this book is about. Each page depicts an
adorably drawn bunny attempting various ways of committing
suicide. When I
first opened the book, I remember saying something like, “This is sick!”
But after leafing through several pages, I found I couldn’t put the book down.
Every page turn was a suspense-filled moment. What bunny suicide would be
next? I began to worry about myself. Why was I so engrossed in this
book? More importantly, why was I laughing so hard?

Perhaps it’s just so hard to be put off by an adorable bunny committing suicide
in such incredibly inventive ways. The idea that one would never think
that an animal would attempt to commit suicide could be another reason. Of
course, we all thought that squirrels running in front of our
cars were
committing acts of suicide, but the folks in advertising at the GEICO Insurance Company have explained to us that these were actually acts of malicious contempt
by the squirrels.

I truly believe that this book is so intriguing, because the acts of suicide are
truly inventive. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the bunnies are so damned
cute. Of course, it was definitely a plus that British comedic writer Andy Riley used bunnies. Had he used humans, this would be an entirely
different review about a controversial new novel aimed at suicidal injustice…or
something like that.

I loved The Bunny Suicides so much that I also picked up Return of the Bunny Suicides. This sequel, in my opinion, is even funnier than the
original. Riley adds current events into the scheme as well as popular
movie references.

Perhaps the only sticking point of these books is the price - $10.00 apiece.
Is $10.00 a lot to ask for compared to the laugh factor? Considering that
the entirety of the two books can be scrutinized and laughed over in
approximately one half hour, and the contents of my wallet amount to so much
lint, this could be the case. Fortunately, I received some gift cards this
Christmas and was able to purchase them without drama…or the disturbance of much
lint.

So, run out and buy The Book of Bunny Suicides and Return of the Bunny
Suicides…or beg someone to buy them for you – after all, Arbor Day is right
around the corner! Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!